Budapest is the second fastest-developing urban economy in Europe, making it twelfth on a list on which it occupied 201th place last year, the study ‘Global Metromonitor 2014‘, published by US thinktank Brookings Institution, reveals. The first places on the list are occupied by Eastern Asian and Turkish cities, with Istanbul being the only geographically European city among them.

The study examines the development of the world’s 300 largest urban economies, ranking them according to the pace of development. The study reveals that the globe’s fastest-growing urban economies are concentrated in the developing work, stimulating also the expansion of national economies. Sixty per cent of urban economies have re-emerged to pre-crisis levels in terms of employment and GDP per capita, according to the research.

The Hungarian capital Budapest came twelfth on the list – with the exception of Istanbul, it was overtaken only by Middle and Far Eastern cities. GDP per capita in the city increased by 2.4 per cent and employment by 4.7 per cent compared to the previous year. Another European city to make similar progress was the Bulgarian capital Sofia, which is now thirtieth on the list.